The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended higher, while the Dow closed lower after a choppy trading session on Thursday, as investors studied earnings reports while awaiting Amazon's results after the bell and a key jobs report on Friday.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly rose after the company forecast annual profit largely above estimates, while fashion house Tapestry jumped on an annual sales and profit forecast increase.

Philip Morris International advanced after the cigarette maker posted better-than-expected quarterly results and forecast 2025 profit above estimates.

Amazon.com ticked up ahead of its quarterly earnings report. Investors will look for updates on its artificial intelligence investments, after Chinese startup DeepSeek's cheaper AI model sharpened investor scrutiny of US tech giants' massive spending on the technology.

"Today, the main focus is corporate earnings. Tariffs are in the background," said Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments.

"Amazon will be the sixth of the Magnificent Seven to report. The AI theme has been under quite a lot of volatility over the last few weeks with the DeepSeek news ... We’re watching tonight for any thoughts that (Amazon) has to say around that," Hill said.

Honeywell fell after the industrial and aerospace giant said it would split into three independently listed companies and forecast downbeat sales and profit for 2025.

The S&P 500 gained 22.09 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,083.57, the Nasdaq Composite gained 99.66 points, or 0.5 percent, to 19,791.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 125.65 points, or 0.3 percent to 44,747.63.

Markets saw a dismal start to the week when President Trump announced sweeping trade tariffs over the weekend, before suspending the levies on goods from Mexico and Canada on Monday for a month.

The January nonfarm payrolls report is due later on Friday, a crucial metric in gauging the state of the labor market and the Federal Reserve's rate path.

Traders don't expect the Fed to adjust interest rates in its next meeting in March, but a cut is widely anticipated in June. (Reuters)